Arthur Scott Bailey

“ Frisky Squirrel was a lively little chap. And he was very bold, too. You see, he was so nimble that he felt he could always jump right out of danger—no matter whether it was a hawk chasing him, or a fox springing at him, or a boy throwing stones at him. He would chatter and scold at his enemies from some tree-top. And it was seldom that he was so [Pg 10] frightened that he ran home and hid inside his mother’s house.
Mrs. Squirrel’s house was in a hollow limb of a hickory tree. It was a very convenient place to live; for although the tree was old, it still bore nuts. ”

“ Crow liked to get folks into trouble.
“Come on!” said Mr. Crow, as Frisky paused beneath the tall tree. “I’m going to fly over to that tree right next the farmhouse. You run along the stone-wall and climb up beside me.”
“Now, then!” said Mr. Crow a few minutes later, when Frisky had joined him. “There’s the window—wide open. And there are the butternuts, lying on the floor.”
Frisky could see great heaps of nuts. And without another word he crept out on a limb that brushed the window-sill and in another moment he was inside Farmer Green’s attic. Frisky forgot to thank Mr. Crow. ”

“ As a special favor, I’ll be willing to cut it off for you, with a big pair of shears that my mother has.”
Frisky Squirrel was just a bit angry at this remark about his tail.
“What about your ears?” he asked. “Not one of the forest-people—except rabbits—wears his ears so long as you do. I must say that they look very queer. How’d you like to have me trim them for you?”
“Tell you what we’ll do,” Jimmy Rabbit said. “I’ll cut off your tail and you’ll cut off my ears. What do you say?”
Somehow or other, Frisky did not quite like the idea of losing his tail. ”

“ Squirrel [Pg 90] said, after she had taken one good look at what was going on. “They’re threshing out the wheat-kernels, so the miller can grind them into flour.”
“But those horses—” said Frisky. “Why is it that they don’t walk right against that bar, and break it, and tumble off onto the ground?”
“That’s a horse-power,” Mrs. Squirrel explained. “The path the horses are treading on moves, and that’s why they stay right in the same place. The path moves ’round and ’round all the time, like a broad chain. That’s what makes the wheels turn on the threshing-machine.” ”

“ Since it was quite dark inside their home in the hollow limb of the big hickory tree, Frisky could not see his mother smiling. But her voice sounded very cheerful when she said—
“Now stop crying, my son. There’s nothing to cry about. The end of the world hasn’t come. And that’s something you and I don’t need to worry about, anyhow.”
“What you heard was only the mill-wheels turning. You must have reached [Pg 61] the gristmill before the miller had come to begin his day’s work. That was why everything was so still. ”

“ But there were a few of the forest-people with whom Frisky never was able to make friends. They were the disagreeable, selfish kind, who never liked anyone except themselves.
Freddie Weasel was one of the few with whom Frisky Squirrel never could have a good time. Frisky often tried to play with him. But their games always ended in trouble; and I must say that it was not Frisky’s fault.
Now, Frisky had often heard it said [Pg 102] among his neighbors that no one had ever caught Freddie Weasel asleep. Indeed, Jimmy Rabbit claimed that Freddie Weasel never slept at all. ”

“ Although Johnnie Green took good care of Frisky Squirrel, that once lively young chap did not like his new home in the wire cage at all. His young master gave him plenty to eat—nuts and grain—all the things that Frisky had always liked before. But now nothing tasted the same. Frisky never felt really hungry. He just sat in his cage and moped and sulked.
Once in a great while he would go out into his wheel, and run and run until he was so tired that he was ready to drop. Whenever Johnnie Green saw him running [Pg 96] inside the wheel that young man would laugh aloud—he was so pleased. ”

“ He was not afraid of Frisky Squirrel. But Henry Skunk was altogether too big. Freddie did not enjoy fighting him.
Well! Frisky, with his aching shoulder, and Henry Skunk, with his sore nose, went off together. They didn’t say a word to [Pg 112] each other, until they reached the hickory tree where Frisky lived. And then all they said was “Good-night!”
Frisky never spied on anybody again. He had learned that it is better not to meddle in other people’s private affairs. So, after all, perhaps it was a good thing that he tried, just once, to catch Freddie Weasel asleep. ”

“ Kinglet you could see that he always wore a bright [Pg 37] red crown. He was very modest about his crown, and generally wore it so that only a little of it showed. But whenever he went out to fight, as the forest-people are often obliged to, that beautiful red crown might be seen as plain as could be.
Now, it happened that Mrs. Kinglet heard Mr. and Mrs. Hawk talking to each other, as they tried to capture Frisky Squirrel, and she heard the other forest-people shouting, too. So she called to Mr. Kinglet that somebody seemed to be in trouble; and he came hurrying up at once. ”

“ Frisky Squirrel was very fond of wheat-kernels. Somehow or other he heard that there was a place on Swift River called the gristmill, where there was almost all the wheat in the world—at least that is what Frisky heard. So he started out, one day, to find the gristmill. He thought he could have a very pleasant time there.
Frisky had no trouble at all in finding the gristmill. It was just below the mill-dam. And everybody knew where that was.
The gristmill was an old stone building [Pg 58] with a red roof. And once inside it Frisky saw great heaps of wheat-kernels everywhere. ”

“ The words were scarcely out of Jimmy Rabbit’s mouth when he received a terrific box on the ear. Now, it’s bad enough for anybody to have his ears boxed. But Jimmy’s ears were so big that I dare say it [Pg 55] hurt him three times as much as it would have hurt anyone else. And it surprised him, too. For he hadn’t heard Mrs. Squirrel as she stole up behind him. Anyhow, he ran off howling, taking his mother’s shears with him.
“That awful Rabbit boy!” Mrs. Squirrel said. “A moment more and he would have cut off your beautiful tail—your best feature, too!”
“What’s a feature, Mother?” Frisky asked. ”

“ Now, when the horses were walking, the other wagon began to set up a great noise. It reminded Frisky of the time the gristmill began to grind, when he thought the world was coming to an end. Those queer wheels on the wagon began to turn, too. But Frisky didn’t pay much attention to them. ”

“ Frisky had the busiest sort of time following Freddie. It grew so dark that it was very hard to see Freddie Weasel as he [Pg 105] sneaked along through the bushes, hunting for small birds that build their nests on the ground.
Freddie Weasel caught several sleeping birds. And Frisky could not help being sorry for them. He began to feel very guilty for having teased them, and for having eaten their eggs.
Finally it grew so dark that Frisky had just about decided that he would have to give up spying on Freddie and hurry home, when he saw Freddie slip into a hole in a bank and vanish. ”

“ And soon Jasper came flying up as fast as he could come. He made a noise exactly like a red-tailed hawk; but he did not frighten Frisky at all, for Frisky knew all of Jasper’s tricks. Jasper Jay was always trying to scare people by calling like bigger [Pg 14] birds—such as red-shouldered hawks, and red-tailed hawks, and sparrow hawks. ”

“ He was a suspicious old chap—which means that he was afraid that if he told Frisky then, Frisky would go off alone and take what corn he wanted without giving Uncle Sammy any.
“To-night!” Frisky exclaimed. “Oh, I don’t stay out late at night, you know, as you do.” Uncle Sammy Coon was known to keep very late hours.
“Well—right after sundown, then,” the old rascal said. “We’ll meet over by the [Pg 42] brook. Don’t tell your mother. It will be a pleasant surprise for her, when you bring home a fine bagful of corn.”
“All right! I’ll be there,” Frisky told him. ”

“ As for Frisky, he began to bring home another store of nuts that very day. After what had happened neither he nor his mother had any fear that Fatty Coon would ever trouble them again.
[Pg 72] XVHelpful Mr. Crow
Frisky Squirrel’s mother had often told him not to have anything to do with Mr. Crow. “He’s such a tricky old fellow!” she said. “He seems to have nothing to do but get folks into trouble. Don’t go near him, and don’t have anything to say to him.”
Now, I’m sure Frisky Squirrel wanted to mind his mother. But he couldn’t help feeling that she was mistaken about Mr. Crow. ”

“ It whisked out from between the shears; and they closed upon nothing at all.
“Now, that’s too bad!” Jimmy exclaimed. He had been so interested in what he was doing that he had never heard Mrs. Squirrel at all. “Come back here and we’ll try again.” ”

“ She had always found her son to be truthful. But this was certainly a queer story. She lay awake a long time that night thinking about the matter. And early the next morning she took Frisky and set out for Swift River. Frisky led her to the very spot where the stone had swum away. ”